The Dog Days are Over
by wizardswears
Summary: Gruumm has been contained and the world is safe once more. Anubis Cruger and his wife have been reunited. Relationships have formed. All is well... right? Rated for themes and later chapters. Z/Bridge. Kat/Doggie. Doggie/Isinia.
1. Chapter 1

Well hey there my good friends! I haven't posted anything on this account before, so this is my new start to the new year as wizardswears :) I hope you enjoy this, it's something I've been working on for a while (which is good for my writing development - not so good for getting my assignments done!). I've never published SPD fiction before so please play nicely! :)

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_Finally, it's over._

_The sound of metal on metal snapped Kat into defense._

_The base, her precious base where she'd spent the best moments of her life on Earth, was being ambushed by those who took away everything that she cared for. _

_Her home planet, her friends, her family, and now Doggie. _

_She wouldn't go down without a fight._

_Finally, the battle has been won._

_Her claw-like nails sliced through Krybot after Krybot as she tried to keep control of the SPD headquarters. _

_Silently, Kat cursed herself for never taking up her offer of retaining the 'Cat' Morpher, it would have been invaluable against Broodwing and his goons. _

_Her civilian powers were not in the same league at the robotic foot soldiers._

_The end; it seemed so far away._

_A sharp, stabbing pain filled her abdomen. _

_An orangehead had managed to get a grip on her, impaling her. _

_She could feel the warm, sticky redness of her blood slip silently down her dirtied white overcoat. Everything she'd worked for, falling apart at her fingertips. _

_She gasped, her head beginning to cloud over as her eyelids slipped closed and the lulled into unconsciousness._

_The last thing she saw was Broodwing at the controls, and the rumble of the base as it transformed._

_After the dark, comes the light._

_Stirring, Kat awoke to find herself on the floor. _

_She was lying in a force field prison, Boom's face inches from hers. She held back a scream of shock and she shot to a seated position, a paralysing pain tearing through her body._

_"Kat, I'm sorry… We did what we could… We just – we couldn't… They're too strong…"_

_She held up a hand to stop his incessant babbling, and tugged herself from on the ground._

_"I understand… It's not your fault."_

_It was an ingenious idea of Boom's that got them out of their invisible prison and back in control of the base. _

_The Troobians, and Broodwing, didn't know what hit them. It didn't take long to have them contained, and the base prepared for the final battle against Omni._

_But, it's always darkest before the dawn._

_"Sir… You realise… You won't be able to - ?"_

_She couldn't bring herself to voice his imminent death. _

_It made it too real, too final. _

_There was no other way to stop Omni, other than the all-important panel being opened from inside and the rangers causing it to implode._

_"I know Kat, I know."_

_His voice was so steady – it was almost as though he was ready for death. _

_The resignation towards life, but the determination to keep fighting even though it would result in his death, made everything all the more tragic. _

_Almost as if he'd known all along it would come down to this._

_Sometimes, you have to choose between what is right and what is easy._

_"Fire!"_

_It was done. _

_Earth had been saved, Omni had been destroyed, life could continue uninhibited. _

_Kat breathed a sigh of relief, her forehead resting on the panel in front of her. _

_Cheers could be heard from behind her, Boom leaped in joy as the rangers had once more saved the day. _

_However, the wave of grief and guilt washed over her quicker than she imagined. _

_A huge sacrifice was made that day, one that she would have to live with for the rest of her life. _

_If she'd only been able to control Omni, to shut it down from the base, then Cruger would still be alive and well._

_All for one, and one for all._

_"Help each other up, report anyone who is missing."_

_Kat gazed over the destruction before her, the remains of the base standing alone in the river of rubble. _

_Cadets scrambled to their feet, clutching fresh wounds as the rangers with Boom's help ushered them inside where Felix was waiting._

_"Look, over there!"_

_Her ears twitched at the sound of Z's voice, and her eyes lifted once more. _

_They settled on a shadow in the distance, surrounded by the dusty particles still circling on the air, and the smoke from an explosion which was yet to blow over._

_"It's the commander!"_

_But who was that beside him?_

_Sometimes, the past doesn't necessarily remain so._

_A figure was beside Doggie, clutching at his paw. _

_Slightly shorter than he, but still taller than the average human, with an identical muzzle and blue scales._

_It was another Sirian, but more precisely it was the Sirian Doggie was convinced had died years prior. _

_Someone Doggie had been morning the loss of since the fall of his home planet, and his arrival on Earth. _

_His wife – Isinia._

_She released her grasp on his paw just long enough for his final battle with Emperor Gruumm and to give him the opportunity to confine him, before she was once again at his side. _

_Kat felt a twang of jealousy, but was overcome by the genuine happiness she felt for her partner. _

_It was the first time in all the time she'd known Cruger that his eyes were bright and shining, not glazed over with guilt at the thought of his past. He was reunited with the woman he loved._

_Today, Earth can celebrate._

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__I hope you enjoyed it guys! Reviews are welcomed with open arms! Any and all criticism is greatly appreciated. Until next time, Adios.


	2. Chapter 2

Well hidey-hi campers! I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! and here for part two :)

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After years of gruelling fighting, of battles won and lost, of lost comrades and the destruction of planets, finally the war had been won.

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The melodic sound of laughter filled the room.

Five misfits who found themselves thrown into a life they could never have imagined, twirled and laughed and danced.

Barely out of their teenage years with the weight of a world they needed to protect on their shoulders, it was a miracle that they came out relatively unscathed.

Z and Bridge danced in each other's arms to a ballad, her head resting on his chest, their faces only inches apart as he crooks his neck to whisper in her ear.

The world was invisible to the pair as they shared a private moment, something that had been almost impossible before today.

Syd teased Sky from the side of the dance floor, her dress twirling almost of its own accord as she moved in time to the music.

Sky stood rigid and uniformed, watching her, but in his eyes you could tell that any moment from now he was going to give in and danced with the girl he's idolised and fancied since the day they started at the academy together, many years ago.

There was joy and celebration being shared by all, even commander Cruger and his long-lost wife shared an intimacy as they sat alone in a corner of the room, oblivious to everything as they used this time to catch up on all that had been missed.

Only one didn't participate in the festivities.

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Snow fell to the ground in silence, covering the battlefield with a blanket of white, laying the fighting to rest.

Kat stood by the window, her elbows propped on the windowsill, the hand which clasped her glass hovered close to her lips. She breathed out a small sigh as she stared longingly out across the horizon, the sound of chatter and music drifting up from the room beneath.

She, too, should be celebrating the fall of the Troobian Empire and the containment of Emperor Gruumm, but her heart was not residing in the same high spirits as others.

A hand resting on her shoulder drew her out of her melancholy.

"Why are you up here, alone? You should be downstairs, celebrating with us and the rangers."

Kat forced as much of a smile as she could muster as she spun to look at her concerned counterpart.

"It's just been a long day, Doggie. The fighting and ultimately, the relief has left me somewhat drained."

Doggie tucked a strand of hair from Kat's face behind her ear and looked deeply into her eyes.

"There's nothing more to worry about now, the Earth is safe. Let yourself get some rest, you've been working so hard for such a long time. Take some time to look after yourself Kat, I'd hate if anything ever happened to you."

Kat's lips twisted into a genuine smile.

"I mean, where would be without the best technician this Earth has ever seen?"

Her smile faltered, her hopes crashing to the very bottom of her heart.

"Very well sir, I shall see you in the morning."

Kat turned quickly on her heel and headed toward the nearest exit, keeping her head level and trying to contain her tears.

Taking a left, she mentally kicked herself for being so stupid.

How could she possibly imagine that Cruger actually had feelings for her?

Her hyper-sensitive hearing caught a noise from behind her, she wiped her eyes quickly before spinning around to be greeted by the last person she wanted to see that night.

"Isina, should you not be at the party? It's been a long time, Doggie has missed you."

Before Kat had a moment to respond, she found herself thrown against the wall, Isinia's arm crushed into her throat.

She struggled against her superior strength, trying to pull her arm away so she was able to breathe.

"Don't ever call him Doggie again. You worthless scum, you shouldn't be allowed to shine his boots, let alone address him in such a way. Pathetic, you and your rangers. You just got lucky, you won't be so fortunate next time."

She dropped Kat to the floor and kicked her in the stomach for good measure.

"Consider yourself warned."

Isinia stalked off in the opposite direction, leaving Kat curled up in the fetal position on the floor, trying to catch her breath and clutching her potentially broken rib.

She stared after Isinia, trying to decipher what had just happened, before scrambling onto her feet and limping back to her room.

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What's going on at SPD? Like to read more? Please review :D x


	3. Chapter 3

It's been too long my friends, I'm sorry for disowning you all! I hope you've enjoyed so far, I've really enjoyed writing it and I have a lot patiently waiting to be uploaded so updates should be a little more frequent! Thank you for sticking with me :)

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Next morning, Kat woke long before dawn to a bitter taste in her mouth and a rising in her throat. Running to the bathroom, she threw up the contents of her stomach along with a large amount of blood.

She stared at herself in the mirror, her skin look sunken and grey, rich red dripped down from her lip. A slight movement of her lower body sent a sharp, excruciating pain up her side, confirming her suspicions of a broken rib. Lifting up her dress – she'd not changed from last night – she could see her abdomen was almost entirely different shades of black, blue and purple.

Kat rinsed her mouth with water before slowly making her way back to her room to prepare for the day ahead. It was a slow and painful process, but she changed from the elegant purple evening gown with an intricate twisted knot pattern and into her side-split skirt, plain blue turtleneck to hide the bruising on her neck, and slipped on her crisp white work coat. Digging out her heeled knee-length boots, she looked in the mirror once more. She didn't want to go to work, but she had little choice. She'd not had a day off in the last year, and she didn't plan to start now.

The walk from her quarters to the lab seemed long and excruciating, but she made it there in once piece and placed herself behind the desk to complete paperwork. With Gruumm under wraps, there was little threat on the city, so she intended to complete some of the more menial tasks she had to do, which was a blessing since she couldn't move much without feeling like her stomach has been torn out. It was going to be a long day.

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Z cupped her hot chocolate in her hands, tucking her legs underneath her as she sat on the sofa. She was reading – more staring at – a magazine lying on the table, and was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't hear Bridge come in the room.

"Z?"

He called her name quietly, standing by the robotic dispenser, waiting for his own drink. He tilted his head, surveying her.

"Z?"

Again, no response. He took his mug from the machine and tapped on her shoulder lightly. She leapt back to reality, some of her beverage jumping out of the cup and landing on her lap.

"Z, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!"

Bridge placed his cup on the table hurriedly and went to the sink to get a sponge. He slumped on the sofa next to Z and tried to wipe some of the lukewarm tea from her trousers.

"It's fine Bridge, I'll do it. I just wasn't paying attention, it was my fault."

"Are you alright?"

She pondered his question silently as she scrubbed at her uniform, a little embarrassed at Bridge watching her. She took a deep breath, weighing up whether or not she should her thoughts with him. To be fair to him, if he'd wanted to know what she was thinking about, he could have just read her thoughts. Luckily for her, he was never that intrusive, but she still thought he had the right to know.

"I was just thinking about my parents. I mean, if they were here today, would they be proud of me? Would they be proud of who I've become and the things I've achieved? I – I never knew anything about them, especially not their life at SPD. Would they be annoyed or ashamed? After what happened, the reaction they had to the chemicals… Would they have wanted me to stay away from this place? Or did they know this was where I was destined to be? I just… I wish I knew more of them. I wish I remembered them."

Bridge caught her hand softly in his, through her speech she'd continued scrubbing at her trousers and he was concerned she might wear a hole in them.

"Of course they would be proud of you. Look at everything you've done here, the difference you've made. I mean, if it weren't for you then we probably wouldn't be alive. We never would have been able to beat Gruumm and his goons without Omega ranger, and it was you and only you that was determined enough to find Sam and help him. Without you, Earth would be Gruumm's. You are amazing Z, your parents would have loved having a daughter like you. Why don't you talk to Kat? She was here when your parents were, she knows more about them than anyone I'm sure, you should ask her about them. But I know for a fact, they would have loved you. I do."

Z smiled softly through the tears that had slipped down her cheeks. She'd never heard anything as heartfelt and genuine as Bridge had just come out with. She leaned closer to him, his hand still entwined with hers, and pressed her lips gently to his. He froze for a moment, shocked, before responding to her soft lips on his, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. His hand drifting up to run his fingers through her dark hair, whilst the other found her hand once more. He'd been waiting patiently for such a long time, and now his dreams were becoming a reality.

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What did you think? Worth the wait?


	4. Chapter 4

I'm so sorry guys, I am terrible! It's been a long few weeks what with coursework due in and Easter break being swallowed up by my jobs (because I have two, why on earth do I have two? I'm an idiot.) But here's a lovely update for you now! I hope it's worth the wait, thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, you're so sweet and kind :) Enjoy!

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"The work you've done here is amazing Doggie, I didn't know it was all possible."

He smiled with pride as they walked around his beloved base, Isinia's paw in his, and they stopped outside the command centre briefly.

"I couldn't have done any of this without Kat, she developed all the technology here. From the morphers, to the Zords, and even things as simple as the containment card which we've been using widely throughout New Tech and other parts of the world for the best part of the year."

"She's definitely something special." There was a bitterness to her voice but if Cruger noticed it, he made no comment.

"So how do these card thingys work?" Cruger smiled, taking one from his belt.

"They really are ingenious. See, you lock and load it into the morpher here, and it's ready to use. There's a special containment option on the morpher that, if found guilty, triggers the card release and contains the criminal."

Isinia eyed it with interest.

"So they're just stuck in these cards? How is that possible?"

Cruger chuckled softly.

"Well, not exactly. They're transported directly to the secure prisons on site as soon as the card is activated. The card acts more as a camera so we can keep an eye on the criminals we capture. It also has a date feature which lets us know when each of the criminals have served their sentence and can be released. Sometimes they're transferred to other secure units, but for all intents and purposes we are the most suitable and the securest on this planet."

"Wow, it really is fascinating."

"And we wouldn't have any of this is it weren't for the fine Dr. Manx."

She cringed slightly as the sound of her name, and attempted to keep head down, eyes trained on the floor. She felt a strong hand on her forearm and was directed over to where Cruger had been standing moments prior. She forced herself to meet his gaze.

"Thank you sir, I try my best. I should be getting back to work, excuse me."

She dismissed herself, clutching her papers close to her chest and continued down the corridor, barely acknowledging Isinia's existence. Tears welled in her eyes, but she refused to let them escape as she headed toward her office.

"Katherine Manx."

Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke into the voice recognition. The door released and she slid inside, hoping to have a few moments alone. Unfortunately, she was not that lucky.

"Hiya Dr Manx!"

Her loyal assistant tottered through from another room, his hair sticking up at odd angles and a beaming smile plastered on his face. He was a lovely man, who was willing to do anything to help her, and always with a sunny disposition, but he was also very clumsy and had destroyed her lab more than once. He had a very good heart though.

"Hello Boom. I have paperwork to be done, so if you don't mind I'd like to be left alone. You will find me in my office if needs me, okay? Please try not to disturb me unless necessary."

She sent him a small smile before walking through, not bothering to wait for a response.

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Syd sat in her room, legs tucked under herself with a book settled in her lap. Her blonde, curly hair was tied up and she wore no makeup. Her favourite CD was playing in the background, something her mum was fond of and she'd frequently listened to listened to as a child – Taylor Swift. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't hear the knock at her door, nor notice the door slide open to reveal Sky in the doorway.

"What're you reading?"

Syd jumped, launching her book off her lap and onto the floor, face down. She hurriedly tugged her hair out of its messy hold and stood up.

"Sorry, I – I didn't hear you come in. What did you need?"

He picked the forlorn book off the floor and turned it over in his hands.

"Harry Potter?"

Taking it from him, Syd placed a bookmark in its page and tucked it under her pillow. Her cheeks flushed.

"It was my mother's favourite book as a child, and she passed it on to me. With everything, I'd yet to have an opportunity to read it…'

He smiled at her, amused.

"You don't have to tell me, they're wonderful books. My father used to read them to me at bedtime. The fifth was definitely my favourite."

She regained eye contact with him, hoping her cheeks had lost their tell-take rosy tint.

"I didn't mean to disturb you. I just came to ask, that is of course only if you want to, I don't want you to think that you must –"

Syd's laughter disrupted him.

"You're rambling more than Bridge! What is it you're trying to ask me?"

"I uh – I would like you to consider going for dinner with me like… Like, a date? If you'd rather not I completely understand and I should just –"

Her lips pressed against his stopped him mid-sentence. He held his arms stiffly to his side, not sure how to react, before relaxing and moving his lips in response. She pulled away quickly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, slightly giddy.

"Yes, yes I would love to go on a date."

Sky smiled and celebrated slightly, internally, before composing himself and giving her a curt nod, heading back to his own quarter. Syd giggled, switching her music back on and danced around her room while she looked for something to wear.


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